Nigeria falls short of 2020 financial inclusion target as 38m adults lack access

Nigeria failed to meet its National Financial Inclusion Strategy target for 2020 to include 80 percent of its adult population into the financial system. EFInA data show that only 64.1 percent were financially included by the end of last year.

This means that 36 percent of Nigerian adults, or 38.1 million of the country’s 106 million (18 years and above) adults, remain completely financially excluded. This is a shortfall by 16 percent points from the desired target of a 20 percent exclusion rate.

The 2012 strategy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had also aimed to reach 70 percent of Nigerians with formal financial services by 2020; the actual figure reported by EFInA’s Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey released on Thursday showed it was 51 percent, a shortfall by 19 percent points.

With a tepid 0.9 percent growth, Nigeria’s financial inclusion rate improved to 64.1 percent in 2020 from 63.2 percent in 2018. This means that its financial exclusion rate slowed marginally from 36.8 percent in 2018 to 35.9 percent in 2020.

However, the excluded adult population of 38.1 million reported in 2020 was higher than the 36.6 million recorded in 2018, meaning 1.5 million adults fell into the exclusion circle in the last two years to 2020.